


in the darkness comes a little light

by goldenmoon



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump!Aramis, Whump!d'Artagnan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29061006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenmoon/pseuds/goldenmoon
Summary: It had been four years ago since d’Artagnan and Aramis left Paris for an undercover mission. It was only meant to last two weeks at the most, that’s all they needed to get the information they required.It had been three years and eleven months since d’Artagnan and Aramis never returned.And now, it had been five minutes since Athos had answered the phone call from a doctor, telling him that two guys had been brought into the hospital and they were claiming that their names were d’Artagnan and Aramis.
Relationships: Ana de Austria | Anne d'Autriche/Aramis | René d'Herblay, d'Artagnan/Constance Bonacieux
Comments: 44
Kudos: 107





	1. Chapter 1

Athos kicked the front door in frustration as he continued to try and wiggle his key into the sticky lock. His brown paper bag containing his Indian take-away and his work bag had long been dropped to the floor as he continued to remove the key and shove it back in again in the hope that it would eventually insert fully in. 

At the moment, the lock was only allowing him to put the key half way in, meaning he couldn’t unlock his front door which also meant that Athos wasn’t able to do the only thing he had been looking forward to all day. Sitting down on his couch with a bottle of red and his lamb rogan josh.    
  


“Olivier? Are you okay?”

Athos groaned slightly as he heard his nosy (yet well-meaning) neighbour poke her head out her front door which was located opposite. When Athos first bought the flat, the majority of other tenants were similar to him, lone businessmen and women who liked to keep themselves. It worked well, it meant that nobody was forced into apartment block bbq’s or secret santas that he had heard about in the neighbouring blocks.

That was until Mrs. Mable had moved in across from Athos and made sure to know everyone’s business. She was constantly asking about Athos’ job, wondering what business had such strange hours and how his business trips could sometimes last for weeks on end. However, like always, Athos responded with a wry smile and simply told her that he worked in finance. 

If he actually told her that he worked for a secret organisation called The Musketeers who took all the cases that the police were either not trained enough for or not well-equipped to deal with and that he has helped to take down more terrorist organisations, mass murderers and as many people off the most wanted list than he could count, Mrs Mable would have a heart attack. And if she didn’t, Athos would have to kill her himself. 

“Yes, Mrs Mable, thank you. This lock can sometimes get a bit stiff.”

“Maybe you need to call someone out to come and repair it?” 

Athos restrained himself from banging his head against his (still locked) door. “I’ve been meaning to, it’s just pretty far down on my list of things to do-”

“Hm. With your job and all that? That seems to be keeping you very busy these days.” She paused slightly, hoping that Athos would give her some sort of hint about his profession. However, silence on his end remained so she carried on. “My son knows someone who is a locksmith, I could ring him-.”

“Aha!” Athos exclaimed as the key finally entered the lock and the door swung open. “Have a good night, Mrs Mable.” 

And with that, he entered his apartment and firmly shut the door behind him. Finally. With that, he wasted no time at all in grabbing a fork from the dish rack and laying down on his sofa, shovelling the curry into his mouth straight out the plastic container. 

He had two days off work.  _ Two whole days.  _ In a row!

Athos usually hated taking time off from The Musketeers however after having worked non-stop, for three weeks without a day off and with shifts often stretching throughout the night in order to solve their latest case, Athos and his colleague/team-mate/best friend Porthos had gladly accepted the weekend off when Treville had offered it to them.

He by no means had anything planned, apart from drinking his way through a crate of 2001 Chateauneuf-du-pape which a client had recently gifted him, but that wasn’t the point. 

  
Athos’ thoughts about his lie-in tomorrow and possibly getting some combat practice in at the gym was interrupted by his phone insistently buzzing in his back pocket. After putting his half-eaten take-away on the table and sitting up on his sofa, he fished it out of his pocket and frowned slightly.

Dr. Lemay?

Dr. Lemay was their private doctor for The Musketeers. With the constant injuries and peril which their job often entailed, it was largely convenient to have a doctor on call to come and fix them up, without having to explain to the hospital staff every time that yes, he has been shot three times before this one and no, he was not a criminal.

As well as this, The Musketeers agents had code-names to hide their real identities. Olivier Athos was not actually born Olivier Athos however his real name was only known to a select few. So again, it was understandably convenient to have a doctor who was in the loop about all this and not question why their hospital records seemed to only go back a few years.

But Dr. Lemay was only contacted when someone was injured and vice versa. And none of Athos’ team was injured, at least not that he knew of, so why the phone call?

After realising that he had left the phone ring for so long that it was likely Lemay was about to hang up, Athos quickly answered it.

“Lemay? What can I do for you?” Athos balanced his phone between his shoulder and ear as he stood up and walked to the kitchen with the intention of opening the wine. He probably needed a drink for this. 

“Athos. Good. I’m glad I could contact you, I thought you might still be busy at work.” Lemay replied.

  
“No. Finished for the night, thank goodness.” Athos said. “But...what can I do for you?”

“I-maybe you should sit down for this.”

Uh-oh. Athos didn’t like the sound of that. Images of Treville lying in his office after a heart attack or Porthos bleeding out in his apartment after a break in or Constance being tortured for information suddenly went rushing through his head. He had to grip the edge of his kitchen bench to keep himself standing.

“Okay.” Athos replied quietly, however he still remained standing in his kitchen, his knuckles white from the grip on his bench.

“So I got a phone call a little earlier…”

Okay, this was it, Athos told himself. Lemay was about to tell him that Porthos/Treville/Constance was in the hospital and he needed to come and say a last goodbye.

“Two guys were brought in to St. Thomas’ in an ambulance. They had been found in a shipping container, severely dehydrated and mainly unconscious.” Lemay continued.

Athos frowned. This wasn’t to do with someone from the office dying, neither was it to do with any case that they were involved in otherwise Lemay wouldn’t have made a big thing about telling him. So what was it?

“One of the casualties stayed unconscious for the whole journey, however the other one...he woke up and said something to the paramedics.”

There was silence on the other end as Lemay stopped for a moment.

“Well? What on earth did he say? What is this about, Lemay?” Athos demanded, his heart rate still high. He really wished he had gotten alcohol in his system before he answered this call.

  
“He said three words; Dr.Lemay, Aramis, d’Artagnan.” Lemay said shakily. “You know about the agreement with the hospitals in Paris, Athos. If anyone asks for me then I am paged, it makes it a whole lot easier when you lot get taken into hospital instead of my private surgery. Louis set it up a few years ago and it has always stuck-”

Athos zoned out from Lemay’s nervous waffle as he collapsed to his kitchen floor. 

This could not be happening.

He had accepted a long time ago that Aramis and d’Artagnan were dead. He and Porthos nearly killed themselves trying to prove that it wasn’t true before they had to admit defeat.

They and all of d’Artagnan and Aramis’ loved ones had come to peace with that years ago. 

And now...they were alive?

“Athos? Are you still there?” Lemay’s tinny voice came through the phone which now lay on the floor, by foot. Athos slowly picked up the phone as if he was moving through thick treacle however his hands were shaking so much that he could hardly hold it still to his ear.

His hands  _ never  _ shook. It was practically in the job criteria to become a Musketeer, you couldn’t have shaky hands. That you had to stay calm under pressure. But right now, Athos had to resort to laying the phone back down on the tiles and pressing the speaker button before keeping his hands tucked under his chin.

“I...yes. Carry on.” Athos rasped out.

“Like I was saying, nobody knows those names, Athos. Even if they knew of me, how could they possibly know the names  _ Aramis  _ and  _ d’Artagnan.  _ Not only are those code names only known within the organisation but...they haven’t been used in years.”

Athos closed his eyes for a moment at that. It was true, nobody had used those names in a long time. Usually with code names, they could sometimes get recycled through The Musketeers, especially when they bring on new recruits. The Musketeers had been established for years so Athos was sure there had been another Athos before him. 

However, when it came to Aramis’ and d’Artagnan’s names, Athos and Porthos put their foot down about them being re-used, even going as far as campaigning to the main boss, Louis, about it. Now, those code names were officially retired. 

“I think it’s them, Athos.” Lemay continued.

“Have-” Athos cleared his throat to get past the large lump which had seemed to suddenly form in it. “Have you seen them?”

“No, not yet, I’m still on my way to the hospital. I’ve been told they are still being stabilised. But...I think you and Porthos should probably come to the hospital to identify them. You would know if it was them for sure.”

Athos started to nod slowly before he realised he was still on the phone. “Yeah. I-I’ll be there with Porthos as soon as I can. Let me know when we can see them.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure the best doctors are looking after them as well.”

“Make sure you do.” Athos murmured before hanging up the phone. 

Athos let his head fall against the kitchen cabinet as he tried to process what the hell had just happened. 

He should be happy. He should be  _ overjoyed  _ at the fact that his two best friends who have supposedly been dead for the past few years were now apparently alive. And he expected that he would feel happiness about it eventually, maybe after he saw them for himself. But now?

He felt  _ guilt.  _

Athos’ whole body felt racked with guilt. All that time Athos and Porthos spent looking for the two of them wasn’t good enough. They  _ never  _ should have given up on Aramis and d'Artagnan. 

They had been ordered by Treville to officially close the case and assume they were killed on duty but they should have fought back. They should have walked across every country in the world to try and find them if it meant bringing the two musketeers home. 

But they didn’t. And now, Aramis and d’Artagnan had been forced to find their way back on their own, without their help. 

His vision suddenly began to cloud slightly and Athos barely managed to stumble to his feet and to the sink before he threw up all the curry he had just been eating. 

He blindly grabbed at the kitchen roll beside the sink and wet it under the tap before wiping his face with it to try and calm himself down. Athos knew that Lemay would be expecting him at the hospital soon so he had to try and get himself together.

After a few more moments of hovering over the sink with his eyes closed, Athos finally made a move and grabbed his coat and car keys without another thought. Aramis and d’Artagnan were waiting for them.

  
  


It usually only takes ten minutes to drive to Porthos’ apartment from Athos’ place. Tonight, it took four. 

As he skidded to a halt outside Porthos’ building, he realised that in his haste, he hadn’t even thought to ring Porthos to tell him the situation or even that he had to come somewhere with him.

After pressing speed dial 1, Porthos picked up after only a couple of rings.

“Athos? I thought we agreed that we had seen too much of each other the past few weeks.” Porthos laughed. 

“I’m...I’m outside. We need to be somewhere.” Athos was still too much in a state of shock to even think about making small-talk. He wasn’t even sure how he even made the drive over in one piece, his hands were still shaking that much.

“...are you okay? Has something happened?” Porthos asked calmly. “Is it work? I haven’t heard anything from Treville-”

“It’s not work”

“-I was also planning on inviting Flea over for a meal. I’ve made carbonara from scratch and everything-” Porthos continued.

“Porthos! Please. Just...come to the car. I’ll explain soon.” Athos interrupted. “It’s important.  _ Please. _ ”

On the other end of the phone, Porthos was frowning. Athos never said please, it was just something that he was used to by now. So for his best friend to now practically be begging down the phone, without slurring his words so it was unlikely that he was drunk, Porthos was getting  _ very  _ concerned.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll rearrange things with Flea and I’ll come down right now.” Porthos told him quietly. “Give me a couple of minutes.”

Athos nodded to himself and hung up the phone before he sat in silence in the car, the only sound being the tap of his fingers against the steering wheel. 

Sure enough, like Porthos had promised, he was opening the passenger side door within five minutes. 

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” He said immediately, turning his whole body to face Athos.

Athos ignored him as he steered the car back onto the road. 

  
“Athos! You’re scaring me now, mate. What the hell is going on?” 

“I’ll tell you as soon as we get there.” Athos murmured, pressing his foot down to increase the speed further. He was going over every speed limit, twice over, but he was sure Treville would be able to get him out of any speeding fines when his boss found out where he was speeding to.

“To where?” Porthos questioned as he eyed the speedometer wearily for a few moments before craning his neck to look out the window, in search of any clues for their destination. “If you’re in trouble-”

“I’m not in trouble.” 

“Well you’re not filling me with confidence here, you’ve dragged me out of my date night with Flea, saying that this was important yet here you are, driving me somewhere without saying a word!” Porthos ranted. He was about to continue when he then noticed that Athos was indicating to turn right, into St Thomas Hospital.

“Who is here, Athos?”

Athos remained silent until he drove the car to the far side of the car park, which was far quieter than the main part, and turned the engine off. He took his phone out of his coat pocket and laid it on the dashboard, eyed with caution for a moment as if he was preparing for it to blow up, before  _ finally  _ turning to look at Porthos.

A floodlight located near the car was the only light source, casting a white light on both of their faces. 

“I couldn’t tell you before I got here, I needed to stay focused on getting here first.” Athos began. He then held his shaking hands up into the light and then raked his fingers through his hair a few times, a habit he had when he was stressed. 

“You’re scaring me, Athos. Just tell me, is it really that bad?”

  
Athos let out a short laugh, “That’s the thing, it’s not bad! I should be shouting it from the rooftops but...I just feel so  _ guilty!  _ And I’m pretty sure I’m in shock, so much so that I definitely shouldn’t have driven, so I haven’t really processed the news. I only got the phone call twenty minutes ago! _ ”  _

Porthos stayed silent as he let Athos ramble. He could see his friend was definitely in shock like he had claimed, after all Athos was always straight to the point about everything. He hated when people ‘babbled on’ as he called it.

“Twenty minutes ago, I got a phone call from Dr. Lemay.”

“Lemay? What did he want?” Porthos questioned. He then subtlety pinched himself in the thigh, he would have to stop interrupting if he wanted Athos to get his story out.

“I didn’t know, I started to worry that somebody we knew had been hurt, maybe Treville or you but...it wasn’t that. He said that he got a phone call from a paramedic who had brought in two guys. They were found in a shipping container or something, highly dehydrated and not in a good way.”

Porthos gave a small nod, urging Athos to continue. At this moment, he still didn’t have the slightest clue as to where this story was leading to.

“One of the guys regained consciousness and told the paramedic three things. Lemay-” Athos took a deep breath. “Lemay, Aramis and d’Artagnan.”

Athos looked up and made eye contact with Porthos, trying to judge his reaction however Porthos was still looking back at him with a slightly blank look written on his face.

“How could they know those names? Is it one of our agents? Did they get hit in the head?” Porthos asked, shaking his head.

“Porthos. Lemay thinks it’s them. He thinks it’s d’Artagnan and Aramis.” Athos said gently. He knew the amount of shock he went into, and was still in, when Lemay had told him the same hypothesis so this time he wanted to tell Porthos in the most calmest way he could.

Porthos let out a sudden booming laugh which made Athos jump slightly in his seat. “Is this some sort of weird prank? Did Constance and Flea put you up to this? Maybe a bit insensitive but you know what, you got me!”

“You really think I would joke about this?”

Porthos looked back to Athos and regained eye contact with him. He knew deep down that Athos would never play a prank on anyone anyway, he just wasn’t that sort of person. It used to be him and Aramis who were the jokers of the team. But even so, he couldn’t even begin to process that Athos was telling the truth, that d’Artagnan and his old partner in crime, Aramis, was still alive.

He quickly tore his gaze away and faced the window again. “No. No. They are dead, Athos. We looked everywhere for them...we did everything we could and we couldn’t find them. The amount of other cases we abandoned so that we could put all of our resources and time into finding them. We would have found them.”

“And that’s why I’m feeling so guilty.” Athos sighed, also turning to look back out of the window onto the empty car park. In the distance, they could see the lit up hospital and Athos knew Porthos would be thinking the exact same thing as him as he stared back at it.

Aramis and d’Artagnan could be alive in there.

“We would have known if they were alive. We would have.” Porthos insisted.

“Would we? Treville made us close the case when we had no further leads. I think we made peace with it after a while and just...stopped looking.”

Porthos remained quiet so Athos continued. “I don’t think that’s anything bad on us, I think we just convinced ourselves that it was a comfort to ‘lay them to rest’ so to speak, rather than dragging it out. I mean, I never even grieved for them until we closed the case, I was that focused on finding them.”

“I can’t bear the thought of it, Athos. They have been alive all this time and we didn’t know.”

Athos nodded as he laid his head back on the headrest. He began to count the number of lights he could see in the windows of the hospital building to try and calm his still whirring mind down. They needed to wait for Lemay to tell them that they could come and identify the guys before they started to delve too much into it.

Porthos also stayed quiet, his own mind too preoccupied to ask for any further information, he had to process this bit first.

After two minutes of silence, both deep in their own thoughts, Athos’ phone broke it as it buzzed loudly on the car dashboard. They could both see clearly that the screen was lit up with Dr. Lemay’s name.

“Answer it.” Porthos finally murmured.

“Here goes nothing.” Athos sighed as he answered his phone to Dr. Lemay for the second time that evening.

“Athos? Is Porthos with you?” Lemay asked.

“Yes, both of us are here at the hospital. Any updates?”

“They’re stable and have been moved to a private room in intensive care. I’ll meet you in reception to take you up.” With that, Lemay hung up.

“They’re in ICU. We need to go and see if it’s them.” Athos relayed, still staring down at his phone.

“Lemay didn’t give any clues then?” 

“Not in the slightest, but I suppose they are really waiting for us to officially identify them.”

“Let’s go then. I can’t take this for much longer.”

  
  


Similarly to the phone call, Lemay gave no clues as to whether he thought it really was Aramis and d’Artagnan lying in ICU or not. The trio didn’t even bother exchanging pleasantries because as soon as Lemay noticed them walking towards the main reception,he immediately gestured for them to follow him. 

  
Athos’ heart rate was probably higher than he had ever felt it before and he was pretty sure he was ready to throw up the rest of that curry he had eaten as he and Porthos followed Lemay. With a quick glance to Porthos on his right, he could tell that his friend was feeling the exact same bundle of nerves, guilt and maybe...maybe the slightest bit of hope. 

After a maze of corridors and staircases, Lemay finally stopped in front of a large window which looked into a room with two beds in it.

In those two beds were two guys, unconscious and hooked up to all sorts of machines and wires. However, even though their faces were obscured with an oxygen mask as well as covered with a smattering of bruises and cuts, Porthos and Athos recognised them in an instant.

Lying in those beds, after three years and eleven months, were two Musketeers. d’Artagnan and Aramis. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response I had for the first chapter was more than I ever expected, thank you so so much for all your lovely comments and kudos! Enjoy x

For the second time that day, Athos nearly lost control of his legs as he was ready to collapse on the spot if it wasn’t for the grip on the windowsill steadying him. 

He had truly believed that he would never see Aramis and d’Artagnan again after they didn’t return from their undercover work. For months afterwards, Athos and Porthos had hope and belief that they would see them again, that the pair of them would somehow stroll through the front door of the Musketeer office as if nothing had ever happened. 

But after six months had passed, and then a year...and then the two years after that, Athos had truly accepted that they were gone. 

Yet here they were.

Alive.

“Why don’t you both sit down? I can get you both a drink of water.” Lemay told them gently, gesturing to the chairs behind them. When he saw the guys being brought into the ICU, he had personally found it slightly difficult identifying them as Aramis and d’Artagnan but from the looks on Athos’ and Porthos’ faces, he could tell that there was no other possibility other than they had just seen two guys who they had believed to be dead.

However, neither of them moved. Both Porthos and Athos stayed rooted to the spot, staring through the window and into the room with their mouths slightly ajar. After a few moments, Porthos put his hand against the glass, his eyes which were glistening with unshed tears still flickering back and forth between the two beds.

“Are they going to be okay?” He asked quietly, still overcome with his emotions.

Dr. Lemay cleared his throat as he nodded. “Yes. I don’t see why there should be anything stopping them from making a full recovery.”

“Physically, yes. Mentally...we don’t know what they’ve been through for the past few years.” Athos sighed. 

He knew what experiences like this could do to people. The four of them had all served in the army before becoming Musketeers, in the Special Forces. It was where they had met. Whilst Treville had made them all go to therapy and work through the post-traumatic stress disorders, Athos still knew many people who came back from wars as a shell of their former selves. When you see and feel certain things, sometimes there’s no coming back from it.

Athos’ biggest worry wasn’t that Aramis and d’Artagnan weren't going to make a full recovery. He knew they were young and were in the best health care they could be to get back to their old physical selves. No, his biggest concern is that when they woke up, this wasn’t going to be the same Aramis and d’Artagnan which left Paris. And maybe it would be too late to get that back.

“Can we go in and see them?” Porthos then asked, interrupting Athos’ worries.

“It’s past visiting hours...I shouldn’t really let you in but if anyone questions it I will tell them it’s exceptional circumstances.” Lemay replied, wringing his hands together. Neither Athos nor Porthos could imagine Lemay standing up to anybody. 

“It’s more than exceptional circumstances. We’ve just found out our two best friends are alive after four years.” Athos bit back. He then immediately felt guilty about snapping at the doctor, it was hardly his fault. “Sorry Lemay. I just...we can’t leave them again. We will be staying with them until they wake up. If anyone gives you a hard time then just send them straight here.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be on call all night so don’t hesitate to get one of the nurses to page me if you need me.” Lemay said, giving them both a small smile to show that he wasn’t offended by their sharp tones, after all they were going through unbelievable emotions all at once.

With that, he turned on his heel and went back down the corridor, soon disappearing out of sight and leaving Athos and Porthos still rooted to the spot in front of the room where their two best friends laid.

“I suppose we should…” Porthos finally said as he slowly moved towards the door. His hand hovered above the door handle for a few moments as he turned to look at Athos to check he was on the same page. 

  
After a short nod in agreement from his friend, Porthos turned the handle and pushed the door open. However, now that the sight of their friends was so much clearer when they were in front of them rather than looking through the window, Porthos nearly had to turn and go right back out the room.

Both of them had lost an unbelievable amount of weight compared to what they used to be as their thin bodies were nearly swallowed up in their hospital gowns and the blankets on top of them. Even though both of them had been more slender than Athos and Porthos even before they had left four years ago, they were now gaunt as where there used to be muscle seemed to have wasted away to leave only skin and bone. 

Athos always thought that he could remember their faces, clear as day, even after four years of not seeing them (he refused to have photos of them up in the house as it was simply too painful to keep reminding himself of the tragedy), however after looking at the two guys in front of him, he started to doubt himself. 

Because this can’t be the same Aramis that left Paris, could it? Aramis was always groomed to perfection, from the way his hair used to fall in perfect waves to his moustache which never, ever, used to have a hair out of place. The other three even used to tease him when they asked if he used tweezers to keep his moustache in perfect shape. 

However now...his hair was matted and greasy and it had looked like someone had hacked at it with blunt scissors as it was at slightly different lengths all around his head causing parts of it to stick out in clumps. 

Most of the lower part of his face was covered in a thick, bushy beard and Athos didn’t even want to think what it covered because if it was anything like the rest of his face he didn’t want to see it as the amount of blue and yellow bruises which were scattered along the side of his face made both Athos and Porthos shudder.

Then there was d’Artagnan. Similarly to Aramis, he was tainted with cuts and bruises all around his face, including a particularly painful looking one around his right eye. 

Also, when they had first met d’Artagnan, his hair had been shoulder-length before Constance had persuaded him to cut it shorter, apparantly she was sick of him using up all her expensive hair products, and it had turned out that he loved having it short. However now, it was longer than they had ever seen it with the scraggly ends curling past his collarbone. 

“They look…” Porthos started however he couldn’t seem to find the right word to finish his sentence. They looked tired, broken and sore but Porthos couldn’t seem to focus on that, all he could simply see was his two best friends who he never thought he would ever see again.

Athos didn’t reply and instead inched closer to the beds. “We should check for it.”

“Why would we do that? It’s clearly them.” Porthos responded in surprise with his brow furrowed.

“I know but I just...need to see it. You know, just in case.” 

Porthos sighed as he slowly nodded in agreement before he followed Athos to stand closer to the beds. With him stood closer to Aramis and Athos to d’Artagnan, both of them carefully inched back the covers. 

They were both afraid to even touch their skin, almost as if they were simply too fragile to even handle a slight movement. Athos ignored his trembling hand as he ever so carefully lifted d’Artagnan’s arm up and turned it to the inside of his arm was visible. 

There, on the inside of his bicep, was a tattoo. With a quick glance over to Porthos, he witnessed his friend peel back the top of Aramis’ hospital gown. Like d’Artagnan, a small black tattoo was clearly visible just below Aramis’ collarbone. 

The fleur de lis. 

They all had them. Aramis on his collarbone. d’Artagnan on the inside of his arm. Athos above his ankle. Porthos on his hip. 

It wasn’t an official requirement of The Musketeers, they weren’t even sure that anyone who they worked with other than Treville knew about it and their boss had only found out after he saw both Porthos and Aramis wince in pain when they decided to have a combat session with each other the day after getting the tattoo. 

They had decided to all get it after they had survived a relatively dangerous mission five years years ago and still buzzing from adrenaline and maybe the two beers they had downed at Athos’ apartment, Athos, Porthos and Aramis had agreed to d’Artagnan’s idea of a matching tattoo to signify their bond, to his surprise.

Constance had teased them for weeks after about it but they loved it. It was a small and discreet way of showing their loyalty to each other and their job. 

“There you go. Are you happy now?” Porthos questioned as he delicately put Aramis’ gown back in place.

“I won’t be happy until they wake up.” Athos pulled two plastic chairs from the corner and put them both at the foot of the two beds before perching on the end of the hard seat. 

“I’ll get us a coffee. It’s gonna be a long night.”

And it was. 

The pair of them sat on the chairs at their bedside all night, sipping on bitter coffee to try and keep themselves awake even though they both knew that there was no chance of sleep even if they tried after the events of the day. 

After around five hours, Athos had retrieved his locked briefcase out the boot of his car which contained paperwork and write-ups they had to complete from their previous case. He had planned to leave it until they were back in the office on Monday however neither of them minded doing it on their laps, under the dim light of the hospital room if it meant their mind was occupied for a while.

It had just reached seven in the morning, paperwork long completed, when Aramis started to stir.

“Athos. Look.” Porthos hit Athos on his shoulder as he noticed the movement first. Both of them hurried to stand either side of Aramis’ bed and waited patiently as they watched Aramis slightly screw his face up in pain before his eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Where...what?” He croaked. Aramis slowly lifted his hand up to rub at his eyes once more to try and focus them and then eventually his gaze settled on Porthos and then darted over to Athos in surprise. 

“You’re safe.” Porthos told him slowly. He was about to lay a hand on Aramis’ shoulder but then stopped himself, not wanting to spook him when his friend could still be in shock. 

“I...I don’t understand.” Aramis whispered, still studying the pair of them and the room he was in. 

“You are back in Paris, Aramis. Someone found you yesterday, apparently you asked for Lemay? Do you remember?” Athos asked him. He was using a voice that he usually used when he had to speak to small children or traumatised witnesses, pronouncing his words in full and speaking in a soft tone, something he didn’t do very often.

  
“I think so-wait! d’Artagnan! Where is he? Is he safe?” Aramis tried to sit up in his panic, obviously forgetting his injuries to his ribs as he groaned out in pain. “I need to find him.”

“Ssh. He’s here.” Porthos then did put his hand on Aramis as he had to gently push him back onto the bed. “Look.” 

Athos moved to the right so he was no longer blocking Aramis’ view of d’Artagnan, still unconscious, in the bed next to him. 

“He’s alive, just unconscious. He should be coming around soon.” Athos told him. He watched Aramis visibly relax as he sank back into the bed, his gaze never leaving d’Artagnan.

“How long?” He finally murmured.

“How long what? Since you were brought in?” Porthos responded. “Athos was called last night-”

“No. How long have we been gone? We tried to keep track of the days but...we soon lost count. I genuinely have no idea how long it’s been.” 

Athos closed his eyes briefly and gulped. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Aramis how long it had been. There would be no way of predicting how he would react to finding out that they had been classed as deceased for the past  _ four years.  _

“The year is 2021. You have been gone for four years.” Athos gently wrapped his hand around Aramis’ wrist and to his surprise, Aramis didn’t flinch away. 

Aramis finally tore his gaze away from d’Artagnan to look at Athos in shock. Slowly, he started to shake his head.

  
“No. It can’t have been four years. We thought it must have been two at most.” Aramis said as he continued to look at Athos with confusion evident on his face. 

“It doesn’t matter now, what matters is that your home and you’re safe.” Porthos said firmly as he took a light grasp on Aramis’ hand after noticing he wasn’t reacting to Athos touching him. 

Aramis stayed silent, clearly processing the news that he had been away for a lot longer than anticipated. After a few moments, his eyes overflowed with tears and began to trickle down the side of his face. Athos and Porthos stayed quiet, allowing him to come to terms with the news on his own.

“I’m so sorry.”

Athos and Pothos were astounded at the three words which Aramis had just uttered to them both.  _ He  _ was sorry? They were shocked that Aramis was even talking to them, he should be furious at them for not working harder to find him and now he was  _ apologising?  _

“What on earth for?” Athos blurted out as he shook his head. His grip on Aramis’ wrist also tightened. 

“You would have grieved for us for the past  _ four  _ years, I’m so sorry if we caused you pain.” 

“What? How can you even apologise for that-” Porthos began, frustrated at Aramis’ words. 

Although Athos suddenly interrupted quietly, “We should be the ones apologising to  _ you  _ Aramis. We should have worked harder to find you...we should have found you.”

“He’s right, ever since we found out you both might have been alive, what was it twelve hours ago, we were obviously overjoyed at the chance that you could be alive but we mainly felt guilt, Aramis. If we knew you were alive, we would have searched every fucking country for you both and I’m so sorry that we didn’t.” Porthos added before he hastily wiped away a tear which was running down his cheek. 

Aramis swallowed as his own tears flowed quicker at the thought of his friends feeling so anguished about the situation. “Even if we had found a way of contacting you to let you know we were alive and the exact location we were in, you would never have found us. Although if we had been in the house down the road from the office, yeah I would maybe think you guys could have looked a bit harder…” 

He broke off with a light chuckle which in turn made Athos and Porthos also give watery smiles back. 

“But I promise you, there was nothing you could have done. We have worked together for years, I know how hard you would have looked so don’t you dare feel guilty about something you had no control over.” Aramis continued. “Now...I know I am a bit battered and bruised but are you going to give me a hug, or what?”

Athos wasn’t usually one for hugging however he didn’t hesitate for a second in wrapping his arms around his friend the best he could with Aramis still lying in bed. Whilst Athos’ grip was obviously very loose on Aramis, the latter returned the hug fiercely as he gripped onto Athos like it was a lifeline. 

Neither one of them could actually believe it was happening.  _ He was home.  _

“Okay, come on, my turn.” Porthos interrupted jokingly. Athos slowly let go of Aramis and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. He couldn’t remember the last time he had even shed a tear yet here he was, crying more than he ever had before. 

  
Similarly to Athos, Porthos had a very loose grip on Aramis, which was extra important because a tight hug from Porthos could hurt your ribs even if they weren’t broken. However, Aramis certainly made up with it on his end as he latched onto Porthos with a firm grip. 

“I can’t believe you’re here” Porthos murmured.

“Neither can I, my friend. I never, ever thought I would see you again.” Aramis responded as he finally allowed Porthos to stand back up. He opened his mouth to continue when a yawn suddenly cut past his lips, reminding Athos and Porthos that he was still healing.

“Rest. We’ll be here.” Athos told him, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before he and Porthos moved to grab their chairs. Within seconds, Aramis’ eyes had shut again as he fell back into a drug-aided sleep.

“He seems better than I thought he would.” Porthos said quietly after they were both settled back into the cold chairs. 

“I agree but I don’t think we’ll really know how they are until they are back in society, mixing with other people and not high on painkillers.” Athos replied with a sigh. 

It just seemed far too good to be true for Aramis and d’Artagnan to continue with life as if nothing had happened because even if they didn’t have a full picture of what had happened to them over the past few years, Athos knew for sure that demons and bad memories will have followed them back home to Paris. 

After notifying Lemay that Aramis had woken up and was communicating fine and a quick check up on both of them from the doctor, Athos and Porthos were left once again sitting at the bottom of their beds waiting for movement. 

It was another hour before d’Artagnan eventually made his presence known with a quiet groan.

“d’Artagnan?” Athos said softly as the pair of them moved closer to his bed just like they had with Aramis. d’Artagnan groaned in pain again as he moved, trying to get comfortable on the bed. 

“He must still be partially unconscious.” Porthos murmured as d’Artagnan’s eyes remained closed. “Hopefully won’t be too long.”

“True. I’ll go and see if I can scrounge anything for breakfast or lunch, I’ve lost track of what time it is, whilst they are still asleep although vending machine chocolate might be the best that I can do-” Athos said as they both turned back away from d’Artagnan’s bed. 

“Am...is this a dream?” A raspy voice interrupted. Porthos and Athos immediately turned back to d’Artagnan to see him now awake and looking at them both in confusion. 

“No. Not a dream, d’Artagnan.” Porthos gave him a small smile as he moved back to his original position, closer to the bed. “You’re alive, in Paris. Remember us?” 

d’Artagnan looked back at them both blankly for a few beats before he quickly brought his hand up to cover his bruised face. From there, he suddenly started sobbing loudly. 

“Hey...hey d’Art, it’s okay. You’re safe.” Athos promised him, laying a cautious hand on d’Artagnan’s shoulder. 

“Aramis is here too, he’s fine.” Porthos continued, hoping that seeing his partner who had experienced the same thing as him would help bring some comfort or reassurance that he was safe.

“I-I n-never thought it would-would happen” d’Artagnan gasped out, in between sobs. “I thought we would have died in th-that shipping container.”   
  


The cries shattered Athos and Porthos’ hearts once more as they realised how shocked d’Artagnan was to even be alive, let alone be back in Paris with his loved ones. It made them both dread hearing what they must have gone through even more if it meant that d’Artagnan and Aramis were both fully prepared to die in their attempt to escape. 

“d’Artagnan. Breathe.” Athos told him sternly, he didn’t want d’Artagnan to end up setting the alarms off on all the monitors connected to him which would cause an influx of doctors and nurses. That would only freak d’Artagnan out even more. 

“In...and out. In...and out.”   
  


After a few moments of coached breathing, d’Artagnan seemed to finally calm himself down from crying although his eyes still darted between Porthos and Athos with a slight wariness. As if he was about to wake up from this very vivid dream at any moment. 

“I know you’re in a lot of shock right now, we were as well when we found out about you both so take as much time as you need to process it. We’re going to be right here.” Athos explained. 

d’Artagnan gave a jerky nod in return, remaining silent. The two guys could practically see the cogs whirring in his head as he handled the new situation. 

“Would you like some water? I don’t think you’re allowed to eat anything yet, at least until Dr Lemay gives us the go ahead, but I can get you a drink.” Porthos asked him gently. 

d’Artagnan responded with another nod and he watched Porthos stand up and pour a glass from the bedside table between the two beds. Without saying a word, Porthos kept a hold of the glass, not trusting d’Artagnan quivering hands to hold it steady, and allowed d’Artagnan to take a few deep gulps of it. 

“Better?” 

“Thanks.” d’Artagnan breathed. “Is...is Aramis okay?” 

“Aramis is fine, he was awake and chatting to us only about an hour ago so he should be conscious again soon.” Athos soothed. 

“I-I don’t really know how we’re here. The last thing I remember was feeling really woozy in the container, I must have passed out. How did you know where we were?” 

“Aramis regained consciousness in the ambulance when you were found yesterday and asked for Dr. Lemay and told the paramedics your names. Dr Lemay was notified who then told Porthos and me and we’ve been here ever since.” Athos explained, still looking at d’Artagnan in concern. He was a bit out of his depth in terms of how to persuade d’Artagnan that what he was experiencing wasn’t a crazy hallucination and that he really was alive and safe.

“Has he told you?” d’Artagnan then asked.

“Told us what?”

“About what happened to us for the past...sorry I’m not sure how long we’ve been gone.”

Like Aramis, Porthos and Athos were slightly wary of telling d’Artagnan that he had been gone for four years. There was no easy way of telling somebody that all of their closest friends and family had believed they were dead for so long.

“He hasn’t told us anything and you absolutely don’t need to say a word until you are both recovered and are  _ ready  _ to.” Porthos reassured him. “In terms of how long you’ve been away...it’s been four years, d’Artagnan.”

“Four years.” d’Artagnan repeated in shock with his mouth now hung open. How had it been  _ four years  _ since he had last been in Paris? Neither Athos nor Porthos had an immediate reassurance for him, they couldn’t tell him that nothing had changed, because it had, all they would be able to say was that it didn’t matter now they were both home. 

Before they could say anything of this, Aramis’ still croaky and sleep-addled voice cut through. “We were a bit out in our estimates, eh d’Art?”

d’Artagnan looked over at his now conscious friend beside him and the two shared a small smile. Here they were, in Paris, with Athos and Porthos,  _ alive.  _ So whilst being away for four long years would be something they would have to come to terms with, they would both have to focus on the present if they wanted to recover both physically and mentally. 

“Definitely. I just...I can’t believe I’m seeing both of you. Seeing you both again was a distant dream I stopped having a long time ago.” d’Artagnan murmured as he took Athos’ hand which was still resting on his shoulder and held it briefly, as if he was checking that he was definitely real. 

“Don’t be afraid to give them a hug. They aren’t going to disappear, I checked it myself before.” Aramis murmured drowsily from his bed.

d’Artagnan gave him another quick smile and then pulled Porthos into an equally tight hug as Aramis had given him just an hour ago. Whilst in his embrace, Porthos whispered, “You’re safe, d’Artagnan. Nothing else is going to happen to you, okay?” 

After feeling d’Artagnan nod against the crook of his shoulder, Porthos released him to let Athos also give his friend an affectionate hug. Athos, still slightly overcome with his emotions (still very unlike him), accidentally let a few of his tears drip into d’Artagnan’s shoulder as they hugged.

“Are...are you crying?” d’Artagnan asked in concern, slowly leaning back so he could look at his former mentor. 

“Don’t look so surprised d’Artagnan, my two best friends have come back from the dead. I know you’ve all never seen me shed a tear over  _ anything  _ before but please, allow me this.” Athos responded with a soft smile gracing his lips.

“I’m sorry-”

“No. Like we told Aramis, you have absolutely nothing to apologise for. Just focus on getting better then we can talk about everything properly, okay?” 

d’Artagnan nodded once more, his eyelids seemingly becoming heavier as he looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment. Despite that, his eyes abruptly shot open “Constance! Where is she? I need to see her!”

Athos and Porthos quickly realised that in all the madness of the night, they hadn’t even considered calling anyone to let them know. Even though extended family and colleagues could wait until the pair of them were fully recovered, Constance should have  _ definitely  _ been called.

“We’ll go and call her now. She’ll be here in no time.” Porthos nodded.

“And I’m sure Treville knows but is thankfully waiting for us to give him the go-ahead to come and see you. I’ll go and give him and I suppose Louis an update.” Athos added. With that, the pair of them left the room with their mobiles, leaving Aramis and d’Artagnan alone.

“Aramis...is this happening? This isn’t just some weird torture or hallucination, is it?” d’Artagnan whispered to his friend. To his surprise, Aramis let out a short laugh in response. 

“If this is a new torture method then their standards are slipping because for once, I never want this to be over.” Aramis told him. “But yes d’Artagnan, I do believe that this is real. We are  _ home.”  _

Aramis carefully reached his hand across the space between the two beds to which d’Artagnan slowly met. As their hands joined, they gave each other a watery smile as tears ran down their cheeks. They were home. 

_________________________________

Across town, unaware of the news that they were about to receive were two ladies. Coincidentally, they were both at lunch, not with each-other, although they had dined together many times before. 

Constance Bonacieux was on a first date with Samuel, a guy she had met on an app which Elodie had signed her up to a few months ago. She had been on two previous dates which had stemmed from the app and had been a complete waste of time so she was hoping that the third might be the charm. 

She  _ was  _ hoping that however before their starters had even arrived, she realised that this first date was likely to be their last.

“So...what do you do for a living? I noticed you didn’t have it on your profile, is it something you’re ashamed of? Because I don’t judge” Samuel questioned as he gave her a lewd wink. 

“What? No! I’m not a prostitute!” Constance exclaimed loudly, causing other diners around her to glance over. 

“I’m sorry if you took that the wrong way, I didn’t mean for you to interpret it in that way” Samuel replied quickly, holding his hands up in defence. 

Constance sighed and hung her head for a moment, realising that he was right, she had jumped the gun slightly. “Sorry. My job is complicated, I work in security.” 

That was always her story when people asked her about her job. Similarly to everyone else who worked in The Musketeers, it was always slightly complicated talking about what she did. Even though she wasn’t part of the ‘action’ like Athos or Porthos, she still knew a lot of top-secret information as she worked as part of the admin team. 

That was one of the reasons why her first dates never went to a second date. In fact, she had never been on a second date in four years, she hadn’t even gone on a date at all until two years ago, when her friends (including Athos and Porthos) had encouraged her to get back out there.

Everyone she knew thought she was mad for never giving someone another chance after the first meeting but nobody  _ ever  _ seemed to wow her or make her laugh or happy like d’Artagnan had. 

Constance understood that eventually she would have to move on and take a chance on somebody, but Samuel was  _ not it.  _

Her and Elodie had an agreement that whenever they went on dates, they would have a get-out plan where she would simply text Elodie ‘SOS’ and her friend would ring her with some ridiculous plan to get her out. The oldest trick in the book. 

As soon as Samuel excused himself to go to the toilet, she fished her phone out her handbag to send the text when the phone began to vibrate in her hand. 

Athos. 

She frowned. Athos never rang her unless it was important, he always emailed or text and she also knew that he was meant to be having the weekend off so the call wouldn’t be work related. 

Constance experienced deja vu as she remembered answering a phone call from Athos four years ago, telling her that she needed to come into the office for a meeting. It was there where he told her that they had lost contact with d’Artagnan and Aramis, the absolute worst day of her life.

She braced herself and answered the phone. “Athos. I thought you were meant to be having a day off? I hope you’ve not gone to the office, Treville will kill you.”

“Constance, I’m not sure I can tell you this on the phone, I know how it feels to have something this important being told over a phone call. Can I come and meet you?” Athos replied, as efficient as ever.

“What is it? If it’s something to do with work I can just meet you at the office, I needed an excuse to get out of this date anyway.” Constance told him, still frowning. 

“Constance-”

“I can get an Uber here in two minutes! If it’s as important as you’re making it out to be, I don’t want to have to wait for you to come to the restaurant I’m at, which is on the other end of town, when I can just come and meet you!” Constance said as she popped in one of her wireless earphones into her ear so that she could go hands free and get an Uber booked. 

Her thumbs hovered over the phone as she heard Athos mutter to someone else, most likely Porthos, on his end of the line. After a few moments, he sighed down the phone which signalled to Constance that he had relented.

“Okay but don’t freak out when I tell you to come to the hospital.” Athos sighed.

“The hospital?! Athos, who the fuck is in the hospital?” For the second time within fifteen minutes, Constance earned herself dirty looks from the people around her but this time, she couldn’t care less. 

Again, there was silence. On the other end of the phone, Athos was mentally arguing with himself with what to do. He wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle receiving the news over the phone, he needed her here to tell her in person. 

“It’s Treville. He’s had a fall and hurt his arm. Do you mind coming down here to give me a hand with the paperwork and stuff?” 

Constance visibility relaxed in her chair. She loved Treville, he was very much a father-figure to her so she was concerned about him but the way Athos had been building it up had made it sound as if somebody was dying rather than just a sore arm. 

“I’m leaving now, I’ll send you a message when I’m outside.” She said before hanging up, quickly ordering an uber and then slipping her coat back over her shoulders. 

“Constance, are you going?” 

Constance turned around to see Samuel had come back from the toilet and was now looking at her in confusion as she stood up with her handbag. 

“Sorry, I’ve just had a call to say a friend of mine is in hospital, I need to go.” She told him. Constance was well aware that it sounded like one of her fake excuses and she even briefly wondered if Athos had somehow sensed she was having a bad date and had decided to do one of Elodie’s ‘get out’ plans but she knew Athos better than that.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe we could meet again sometime?” Samuel replied with a hopeful look on his face.

Constance was shocked, did he really think this date was going well? She was amazed at how little people would settle for and how they would claim that they had a ‘connection’ with everybody if it meant no longer being single. 

“I think I’ll be going abroad with work soon but maybe when I get back.” She ended up saying her age old excuse with a light shrug. “I have to go, my taxi is outside, it was nice meeting you.”

And with that, Constance was out of the restaurant and on her way to the hospital, completely unaware of what or  _ who  _ was waiting for her. 

Once she had arrived and received a text from Athos to let her know the floor number, it didn’t take her long before the lift doors opened and she was greeted with Athos waiting for her.

“Hi, how is Treville doing?” Constance enquired as she began to follow Athos down the corridor. As they passed the numerous intensive care rooms, she glanced at Athos in confusion. “Did Lemay put him on this floor? Or did you highly under-exaggerate how bad Treville’s condition is?” 

“Treville is fine.” Athos replied quietly as he continued to usher her along. He didn’t provide her with any other information until he finally stopped and they both entered what looked like a waiting room. 

It was pretty simple, just a small table and a slightly worn sofa as well as a television which was quietly playing the news in the background. 

“The coffee isn’t great but I got you one anyway.” Athos mumbled, gesturing to the cup waiting on the table.

“Constance, hey.” 

Constance smiled as she saw Porthos enter the room as well. She knew he would tell her straight what was going on rather than Athos giving her the whole ‘mysterious act’. 

“So, what’s happened? You said Treville had a fall but he’s okay?” She questioned as she crossed her arms. She still hadn’t sat down nor began to drink the coffee which was waiting for her. 

“Treville is completely fine, we only said he had a fall so you would come here still...relatively calm. I’m sorry for lying.” Athos explained to her.

Constance had begun to wish she had sat down first as she crossed and uncrossed her arms nervously. “Who is it then? Elodie? Anne? Louis?”

She noticed Athos and Porthos share a look between them, Porthos giving the former a short nod. 

“Constance...it’s d’Artagnan and Aramis. They’re alive.”

Blood suddenly seemed to rush to Constance’s head and as she tried to get her words out, her tongue felt heavy making her unable to speak. She could hear Athos and Porthos talking to her in the distance but couldn’t focus on it fully. Black spots began to cloud her vision and within seconds, she had fainted straight into Porthos’ waiting arms. 

  
  


On the other side of town, Louis and Anne Bourbon were sat on opposite ends of a very long table, both of them sipping on their soup. 

There was complete silence as Louis remained glued to his phone in one hand, expertly typing with his thumb, as he ate with using his other hand. It was so common for him to do it that Anne had long given up trying to talk with her husband, if she could even call him that anymore, so it meant couldn’t remember the last time they had a proper conversation with each other which was unrelated to work. 

“This soup is cold.” Louis muttered to himself. Anne rolled her eyes, it was just like Louis to complain after he had pretty much cleaned his bowl out. 

“Mine’s fine.” She replied back to him. Her eyes remained fixed on the window behind her husband where she could see two sparrows splashing in the bird bath in their garden. It was the little things like that which she always focused on in order to not bite back at Louis.

“We have a dinner to go to next Thursday. I’m some patron of a conservation charity apparently so they are throwing a dinner in my honour.” Louis continued.

“Great.”

“Make sure you check with my assistant this time on what I’m wearing ahead of schedule, we do need to coordinate. Don’t forget that I do  _ not  _ look good in green so I don’t care if the dinner is about saving the rainforest or something, we’re not doing green.”   
  


“Okay.”

“And-oh...Treville’s ringing me. It’s never a good sign when he rings on a Saturday.” Louis sighed as he answered his buzzing phone. “Treville? What is it? You know I don’t like to be contacted on the weekend.”

Anne tore her gaze away from the sparrows as her interest in Louis’ phone call was piqued. He was right, Treville knew better than to ring on a weekend so it must be something very, very important.

After a few non-committal hums, Louis finally responded. “Great news, Treville. Thank you.” Once he had said those few words, he hung up and went back to his emails.

“Something important?” Anne asked carefully. She didn’t want Louis to think of her as being nosy, not that she cared much about what her husband thought of her anymore.

“Oh just two of our agents have been found alive.” Louis waved her off nonchalantly as he continued to type.

“That’s lovely news, do I know them?” She carried on, still curious about the news. Louis wasn’t aware of how much she knew about the goings on in The Musketeers as she often heard the gossip when she visited Constance at work if she felt like getting out of the house for a while.

“Probably not, they’ve been gone for a while. Four years, apparently.” 

Anne had just taken a sip of her white wine when Louis had said that and those words had caused her to cough it up in surprise. She only knew of two people who had gone missing four years ago...it couldn’t be.

Louis glanced up at her for a second in slight disgust. “Did that go down the wrong way, my dear?”

Anne tried to keep herself calm and collected as she gave Louis a weak smile and took a gulp of water to try and clear her throat. “Did Treville say what their names were?” 

He sighed, obviously bored by the conversation, and gestured for their maid to clear away his dishes. He was about to stand to leave the dining room when Anne questioned him again; “Louis, what were their names?”

Louis waved his hands in annoyance at the constant questioning from his wife. “He said it was Aramis and d’Artagnan. I don’t know why you are so interested, you would have hardly known them.” He said as he walked out the room, leaving Anne still sat at the dining room table in a state of shock.

Her husband couldn’t be further from the truth because four years ago, she was completely ready to leave him and start a new life with another man. Aramis. 

“C-can you call the car around please?” She asked one of the members of her household staff who were still milling around the dining room. “There’s somewhere I have to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such trouble with this chapter because I really wanted to start and write about what happened with d'Artagnan and Aramis however I didn't want to rush the reunions etc. but I promise next chapter will start to have a lot more action. 
> 
> If you enjoyed please please leave a little comment, you don't realise how much of a buzz I get every time I get a notification from you all. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading :) x


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Brief mention of miscarriage.

“Here, drink this. I’ve put plenty of sugar in it.” Athos handed Constance a paper cup full of strong, sweet tea as she slowly lowered herself down onto the sofa.

Constance wiped the back of her clammy face with a trembling hand then took a small sip of the tea. She grimaced at the sweetness but took another gulp anyway.

“Sorry for passing out on you.” She finally murmured as she gave Porthos a weak smile. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve had my fair share of catching swooning ladies at my feet. I say ladies, I’m sure I’ve caught d’Artagnan a few times-” Porthos stopped himself and cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure if Constance was ready to be reminded about d’Artagnan just yet.

However, Constance didn’t seem to notice as she instead leant forward to put the tea back on the table before clasping her hands together on her lap in preparation. “T-tell me everything you know.”

Athos sighed and sat down next to her, he had now relayed the news to numerous people throughout the day yet with Constance looking at him with fearful yet hopeful eyes, he knew he would find this re-telling the hardest. Athos knew that telling Constance that d’Artagnan was alive would be the happiest news she had heard in a very long time although he just wasn’t sure how she would react when she found out how they had both been treated for the past few years.

The one thing that he knew for sure was that it would break her heart.

“Aramis and d’Artagnan were found last night-”

Without much warning, the door suddenly crashed open and the person who had interrupted them, to Athos’ and Porthos’ surprise was Anne Bourbon. 

She was panting and her cheeks were tinged with pink as she placed a hand on her chest to try and calm her breathing down. “I’m sorry, I came as fast as I could.”

Athos and Porthos continued to stare at her in bewilderment as her designer heels clicked on the linoleum floor and she delicately perched on the end of the sofa next to Constance.

“How...how did you find out?” Porthos finally asked her.

“Louis told me.” Anne replied to him quickly as she crossed her legs then uncrossed them. The three of them in the room had only ever seen Anne as a highly collected and calm woman so to see her now clearly flustered and uncomfortable was a surprise to everyone.

She then turned to Constance with a slightly concerned look. “How are you?” 

“I’m not quite sure it’s sunk in yet. Less than an hour ago I was on a failing first date and now...my late boyfriend seems to have come back from the dead.” Constance replied, looking up at Athos for confirmation. He gave her a small nod in return. 

“I’m sorry for coming in, if you want me to leave I completely understand. I’m not sure what quite came over me, as soon as Louis had told me I just had to come over to see it with my own eyes but...if you need me to go to have some privacy I  _ completely  _ understand.” Anne told her sincerely.

“No. It would be nice to have another friend with me.” Constance took one of Anne’s hands and gave it a light squeeze. With the two ladies now looking back up at Athos and Porthos expectantly, they continued.

“We’ve been with them the whole night and they have regained consciousness briefly. It’s definitely them.” Porthos told them.

“What did they say?” Constance asked quietly. “Did they...have they told you about what happened?”

There it was. The question which Athos had been dreading. Whilst the pair of them hadn’t yet been comfortable enough to share what they had been through, it was pretty clear to anyone who set eyes on them that the past few years hadn’t been a walk in the park by any means.

“No. Not yet.” Athos sighed. “We’re not going to push them either, even though everyone is itching to know where they’ve been, we need to wait until they are completely ready to share.”

  
“Of course.” Anne nodded as she gave Constance’s hand another quick squeeze. 

“I want to see him. Please.” Constance said as she used her other hand to carefully wipe away the tears which were welling up in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was mascara streaks all down her face just before d’Artagnan saw her for the first time. 

“We’ll have to go and check that they are awake and ready for more visitors but I don’t see any reason why he would be anything but utterly desperate to see you.” Athos replied with a soft smile gracing his lips. 

With that, Porthos and Athos slipped out the room, leaving Constance and Anne still sat on the lumpy sofa with their hands entwined. 

“I can’t quite believe this is happening. The amount of dreams I had about this moment...I had accepted that that’s all it would be, a  _ dream.  _ And now…” Constance murmured as she shook her head.

“It’s quite a shock.” Anne agreed. 

  
Constance tore her gaze away from the peeling paint in the corner of the wall to look at her friend. “I’m sure they will be both happy to see you’ve visited. Especially Aramis.”   
  


Anne looked at Constance in surprise. Her relationship with Aramis had always been kept under very tight wraps, it had the potential to destroy both of their careers if anyone found out, Louis would have made sure about that. Even though it was extremely exhausting to always have to be watching their backs and ensuring that their relationship stayed entirely professional in the eyes of everyone around them, they knew it was necessary. 

“I’m only here on behalf of Louis. He was busy with a meeting so he asked me to-”

“You really think after all the years I’ve known both you and Aramis that I never had my suspicions about you both? Don’t worry, we would never say a word.” Constance said with a slight giggle.

“Who else-”

“Only the people who cared about you the most and basically knew both of you so well that the signs were as clear as day.” 

Anne looked back at Constance blankly.

“Me, d’Art, Athos and Porthos. We all knew, I think we might have even had bets on to when you were both going to pick up the courage and tell us.” Constance replied with a slight roll of her eyes.

“You know it wasn’t because we didn’t trust you it was just...difficult.” Anne sighed.

Constance shook her head with another smile to her friend. “I know, we always understood the situation you were in. Sleeping with someone who isn’t your husband isn’t something you want everyone to know.”

Anne huffed out a laugh before she turned sombre again. “It was more than just sleeping together, I-” 

A light knock on the door interrupted them before it opened and revealed Porthos leaning against the doorway. “They’re awake. You ready?”

____________________________________

It was a surprise to both Athos and Porthos that Aramis and d’Artagnan had still been awake when they had entered their private room after speaking with Constance and Anne. The pair of them were still slightly dazed and weak from the painkillers but they were still managing to maintain a quiet conversation with each other when Athos and Porthos had came in.

“Hey, you’re both still with us.” Athos mused as he walked into the room. Porthos followed him and leant on the edge of Aramis’ bed. 

“Just.” Aramis replied. He reached up and rubbed his eyes a few times with his IV covered hand but he seemingly forgot the bruising on his face as he quickly winced and groaned slightly in pain. Aramis then slowly brushed his fingertips across the side of his face, probing to see where the pain was radiating from. 

  
“Careful. You’re still a bit bruised.” Porthos told him before he gently pulled Aramis’ hand away from the bruises. 

  
Aramis hummed in response and let his head loll to the side again, his exhaustion clearly beginning to take over again. 

“Did you manage to get hold of Constance?” d’Artagnan finally asked. 

“We did. She’s about ten metres away from you, in the room next door.” Athos smiled. 

With those words, both d’Artagnan and Aramis’ eyes widened as they both appeared to have a jolt of energy pushed through their body.

“S-she’s here? What did she say?” d’Artagnan questioned quickly. He ran his fingers through his long, still slightly knotted, hair which was something he always used to do when he was stressed. Seeing him do that gave Porthos a sense of familiarity as he witnessed his friend having all the same habits that he used to have.

“She was in shock, obviously, but can’t wait to see you.” Porthos explained. He and Athos weren’t quite sure whether to tell them that Anne was waiting to see them also, so until Aramis expressed his wish to see her, they decided to keep that news to themselves. 

d’Artagnan gave a nod and swallowed, he was clearly taking his time to get control of his emotions before he gave the go ahead to send Constance in. It had been so long since he had seen her face that he always felt concerned that he couldn’t remember her features as clearly as he once could. That after two years or so of being away, Constance’s face in his mind’s eye began to get more and more blurred. 

Of course, d’Artagnan could never forget her fiery red hair. Or her gorgeous smile. Those were the only things which got him through the torture. His  _ happy place.  _

“I think now might be a good time for you to ask Lemay if I could get a shower.” Aramis finally spoke up. “Or maybe just a change of scenery from this room, maybe a walk into the fresh air?” 

He gave a pointed look to Athos and Porthos. Even though he was still bleary eyed and far from fully recovered,physically nor mentally, he was still trying to play cupid. 

After a few beats, Porthos let out a snort as he worked out where Aramis was coming from. After all, it was obvious that d’Artagnan and Constance couldn’t have the romantic and private reunion they would need with Aramis sitting less than two metres away from them. 

“Of course, I’ll go and find Lemay now. I’m sure he would be okay if we took you out for a bit?” Porthos said, with a slight shrug. He was pretty sure that the slightly over-cautious doctor would tell them that in no circumstances could they take Aramis out quite yet but d’Artagnan didn’t need to know that information yet. 

All he needed to know was that he would have the room to himself for a little while. 

“Great.” Aramis nodded, with a dopey smile. The scheming seemed to have given him a new lease of life as his eyes began to sparkle slightly. 

“We’ll get that sorted and then...we can get Constance?” Athos tried to make eye contact with d’Artagnan as their youngest continued to seem still in shock and slightly dazed at the prospect of seeing Constance again. 

d’Artagnan finally caught Athos’ eye and a smile bloomed across his face. “Yeah...yeah of course.” 

  
  


Like Porthos had suspected, Lemay had given him a horrified look when he had asked the doctor if he could take Aramis outside. Even after telling him that it was really to give d’Artagnan some privacy, Lemay told him that they would have to make do with moving Aramis to another room just down the corridor and that was final. 

And even though Porthos was nearly double the size of Lemay, the thought of disagreeing with the doctor didn’t even cross his mind. 

Once they had the go ahead to transport Aramis, two porters came in to help move all the machines still connected to their patient and the four of them slowly wheeled the bed down the corridor and into a slightly smaller but otherwise identical room. 

“Right. I’ll go and get Constance.” Porthos said with a grin after he had helped Aramis readjust a few of his pillows to get more comfortable.

“Yes, go and reunite the lovers.” Aramis waved his hand. His eyes then started to droop as he sank deeper into the bed. “I’ll just be sleeping…” With that, the drugs seemed to take over his consciousness again and he slipped back into a deep sleep. 

“I’ll be back in a minute.” Porthos told Athos who had settled into yet another plastic chair. Athos had mentally made a list in his head on what to bring to the hospital for the remainder of Aramis’ and d’Artagnan’s stay and a cushion to sit on, not for them two but for him and Porthos, was an ultimate priority. 

  
  
  


d’Artagnan had taken to pulling on a loose thread on his bed sheets to try and occupy his mind as he waited for Porthos to bring Constance in. The thread became longer and longer and he knew it would soon start to cause the sheet to fray but he kept pulling. 

He remembered when he and Aramis used similar tactics when they were...in a bad place. It would be simple things like counting the amount of drips coming from the leak in the roof or rubbing the frayed edges of the rope which binded their wrists together between their fingertips over and over again.

It prevented them from slipping into a state of delirium and d’Artagnan honestly thought it was one of the things that kept them both sane. Other than having each other for company of course. 

The door handle suddenly clicked which made d’Artagnan jump and in turn caused the string to snap off. He looked up and there, right in front of him, was someone he thought he would never, ever see again. 

Yet there she was. His heart began to thump wildly against his chest, so much so that the machine attached to him gave out a warning bleep at the sudden increase in his pulse.

Porthos let out a quiet snort from where he was still hovering at the doorway which caused d’Artagnan to blush all the way to the tips of his ears. “Sorry.” He muttered quietly.

“Don’t worry, I fainted at Porthos’ feet less than half an hour ago.” Constance mused with a wide grin. 

d’Artagnan laughed quietly and then caught Porthos’ eye and gave him a nod which signalled that they would be fine. More than fine, in fact. With another nod in return, Porthos closed the door behind him and headed back to Aramis’ room. 

With the two of them alone, it was silent.

Constance wrung her clammy hands together as nerves which she could only remember being as bad as when she was about to go on her first date with d’Artagnan, spread all throughout her body. It was strange because it was clearly d’Artagnan in the bed in front of her but she wasn’t quite sure if it would be the  _ same  _ d’Artagnan as what had left Paris those years ago.

But with d’Artagnan looking back at her with the same fear as what she must have written all over her face, Constance decided she had to make a move otherwise she would never find out.

“C-can I touch you?” She finally asked, berating herself when she heard her voice shake. 

d’Artagnan looked at her in surprise, that was unexpected. The relationship that they had had with each other had been so  _ special,  _ even after a few months of dating he had decided that this was the woman he was going to marry one day. 

But now, they were in a situation where she had to ask if she could even  _ touch  _ him. It was understandable, of course, but it still upset d’Artagnan somewhat that she felt like she had to ask. 

“Of course. Of course you can.” He replied to her. He held out his hand, the one without the IV attached to it, towards her and waited until her delicate hand finally slipped into his hold. 

As soon as their hands touched, Constance let out a shaky breath and her vision became more and more blurred from the tears which were welling up in her eyes. For both of them, being overwhelmed wasn’t even close. Here they were, holding hands after  _ four years  _ of separation, after years of anguish. 

Constance tightened her grip on his hand as tight as she could whilst her tears finally spilled onto her cheeks, falling in thick drops.

“Hey. Constance.” d’Artagnan murmured as he used his other hand to grab on her forearm to pull her in closer. “I’m okay.”

He still didn’t have much strength in him but thankfully Constance got the message and took a few steps closer to the bed. Then without any warning, let her head fall down onto his shoulder and sobbed quietly into the crook of his neck. 

d’Artagnan gently cupped the back of her neck and pulled her in closer, revelling in the feeling of her being close to her again. He quickly realised she still wore the same floral perfume which he remembered buying for her one Valentine’s Day all these years later which warmed d’Artagnan’s heart three times over. 

“I’m sorry. You must have been through so much, I shouldn’t be the one crying.” Constance finally managed to croak out as she eventually untangled herself out of d’Artagnan’s embrace but still kept contact with him by placing a hand on chest.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is I’m back and you’re here and...I can’t believe it.” d’Artagnan replied whilst he brushed a few stray tears away from Constance’s cheeks, ignoring his own which had trickled down. 

Constance nodded and then reached down and gave d’Artagnan another, slightly cautious, hug. They stayed in that position for at least a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of one another in their arms until d’Artagnan finally let out a quiet groan. 

“Oh god, I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?” Constance shot back up and her hands flew to her mouth in panic. 

  
“No, you were leaning on my arm. Just got some pins and needles.” d’Artagnan gave her a grin. “I’m on enough pain killers right now to not feel any pain at all, I think even if Porthos punched me in the stomach I wouldn’t feel anything.” 

Constance giggled for the first time since entering the room which in turn, made d’Artagnan laugh. The sound Constance’s laugh was music to d’Artagnan’s ears and it seemed to give him the courage to reach up and pull Constance in for a kiss. 

He gave her enough time to pull away, just in case she wasn’t comfortable, but she didn’t and allowed him to lock their lips together in a soft but sweet kiss. 

“Sorry.” He murmured after they broke apart, their faces still millimeters away from each other, “I should have asked. You could be with someone else-”

“I’m not.” Constance quickly interrupted. “I...I never could.”

“Constance…” d’Artagnan frowned, his biggest wish for her would be that she would have found happiness during the time that he was gone, even if it was with another man. The thought of her staying alone for four years concerned him. 

“Don’t look at me like that. I just couldn’t find anyone who made me as happy as you did.” Constance shrugged. “I had work and friends to keep me company. Anyway, I was fine. You on the other hand…”

d’Artagnan broke eye contact and looked back down at the blanket in discomfort. He preferred being concerned and talking about Constance’s wellbeing rather than the other way round.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” 

“No. It’s not your fault, I’ll need to talk about it eventually.” d’Artagnan sighed before finally allowing his eyes to flicker back up to meet her hazel ones.

Constance shook her head vehemently. “You don’t. If you never want to speak about it then that’s fine, everyone will accept that. Don’t for one minute think that you have to bring it all up.”

“That’s the thing though, as well-meaning as everyone is, they will want answers and the only people who can give them are me and Aramis.”

Constance looked at him in concern before he gave her a weak smile and pulled her in for another hug. 

  
  
  


In the other room, after an hour, Aramis slowly came back round with a loud groan. 

“Aramis, are you okay?” Athos questioned as he shot up out of his chair and to his bedside.

“It’s my ribs, they’re killing me.” Aramis managed to get out through gritted teeth. “D-don’t worry, I’m used to it-”

Athos closed his eyes and felt his blood run cold as he listened to how nonchalantly Aramis was trying to brush off his broken ribs. He hated to think that somebody could be ‘used to it’ because if he was used to that, what else would he be used to? He couldn’t bear even thinking about it. 

“I’ll go and get Lemay.” He finally said quietly as he decided he needed a few moments alone. Athos hated how screwed up all his emotions appeared to be, it just wasn’t like him. After certain disasters in his past, he preferred to keep his feelings and emotions barred off to everyone but the select few he cared about, and stay strictly professional to everyone else. And it worked like a charm.

The problem was, Aramis and d’Artagnan were two of the people he deeply cared about therefore the happiness from seeing them to the guilt to the heartbreak over seeing them in pain was multiplied by a hundred. He hated it. 

It didn’t take him long to corner Lemay and tell him that Aramis needed some more pain relief. As they walked back towards the room, Athos asked something he had kept in for a while. “Do you have any ideas about the level of injury they might have sustained during the past few years?”

Dr. Lemay stopped and Athos heard him deeply sigh. “I have an idea of it. I’ve got to be honest with you, Athos, it’s not pretty.”

It wasn’t a shock to Athos to hear that, he only had to look at their current injuries to guess that it wasn’t the first time they had received beatings like that. However, it still devastated him to hear Lemay confirm it. 

“Like what?” Athos finally asked faintly.

“You know I can’t tell you much without their consent, it’s basic patient confidentiality.” Lemay replied with another sigh. 

“I know but just give me an idea about what to expect.” Athos pleaded. “Aramis...Aramis said that he was  _ used  _ to having his ribs broken.”

Lemay hesitated before he gave a small nod. “There are many signs of bones which haven’t healed properly from being broken, clear signs of malnourishment and…”

Lemay trailed off and looked away, causing Athos to frown. “What else?”

“I saw a glimpse of their backs when they were getting prepared for surgery. Let’s just say...I’ve never seen scarring like it.”

Once Lemay had uttered those words, he marched ahead of Athos in the direction of Aramis’ room, leaving the Musketeer still rooted to the spot. He had seemingly felt every emotion under the sun in the past twenty-four hours but now, it was something different. 

Now it was  _ anger.  _

Athos knew he could never push the pair of them to talk about who did those things to them but that certainly didn’t stop him from wanting a list of names which would go right to the top of their most wanted list. 

  
  


By the time Athos had finally calmed himself down enough to re-enter the room, Lemay had already taken another look at Aramis’ torso and was looking at his chart to see how much morphine he had already been given. 

Porthos gave Athos a questioning look as the latter sat down but Athos ignored him and decided that conversation could wait til later, when they were alone.

“Please. I don’t want any more meds which make me drowsy.” Aramis groaned.“I’m back home after so long and I keep falling asleep, I hate it.”

Lemay closed the file and placed it back on the end of the bed. “Your body needs to heal, Aramis. The sooner you allow the medication to do its job, the sooner you won’t need to be on it.”   
  


“You talk to me like I didn’t do a medical degree before the army.” Aramis huffed. 

“Half a degree, I believe you dropped out, didn’t you?” Lemay retorted back in jest. He knew Aramis wouldn’t be offended, it was a running joke between the two as they had been in the same class for two years with the friendly competition to be the top of the class motivating them more than anything.

Aramis let a weak laugh slip out before his face distorted up in pain again. “Okay, you can give me some more but not so much that it will knock me out.”

Lemay rolled his eyes and relented, only preparing a half dose of morphine. As soon as he had administered it, he turned to Athos and Porthos. “As soon as he’s feeling less stubborn and needs more, come and get me.”

Porthos gave the doctor a fake salute and once Lemay had left the three of them alone, he turned to Aramis with a shake of his head. “He’s right, you’re being far too stubborn for your own good.”

Aramis stayed silent and focused on breathing through the pain while he waited for the drugs to kick in. Once he felt like the pain had started to dull, he quietly spoke out. 

“I spent far too long being afraid to go to sleep. I’m not sure it’s something I can turn off.”

Athos closed his eyes and let his head fall to his chest as he took in the information. These snippets of information that he kept receiving were slowly breaking him down, bit by bit. 

Meanwhile, Porthos had stood up and gently placed his hand on Aramis’ wrist. He waited for his friend to look at him and make eye contact before he spoke. “You are safe. I know it’s going to take a while to realise that but we will be here for you every single day until you do. You don’t have to be afraid to sleep, I promise.”

  
“Okay.” Aramis whispered. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to say thank you, we’re your friends. That’s what we do.” Porthos muttered. 

Aramis nodded once more and took a few more deep breaths. Eventually, he gave both of them a small smile. “Tell me some stories about what we’ve missed, it’ll distract me.”   
  


Athos and Porthos shared a look as if they were telepathically going through a mental list of all the crazy events that had happened in the past four years. They would have to stay away from the ones which were related to cases, that might bring up bad memories, but there were more than enough office antics to tell him.

“It’s surprising, not much happened because we didn’t have you two there causing trouble. It was quite quiet in the office, right Porthos?” Athos teased.

“Very. I don’t think Treville raised his voice at us  _ once _ , Lemay even asked us what was happening because it was helping to get Treville’s blood pressure down so much.” Porthos continued with a wide grin. This is something he had missed terribly. 

“As if.” Aramis snorted, causing his face to screw up again in slight pain. “I expect to see Treville with even more grey hair than he did when I left.” 

“Hm, I suppose maybe that time we let a crate full of mice loose in the office could have caused a bit of stress?” Porthos asked Athos jokingly. At the time, they couldn’t laugh about it, especially not Athos, but now it was one of their funniest stories. 

Aramis’ eyes shot open and were glittering as he awaited more details. However, between Athos and Porthos, he could just see out the window which was looking onto the corridor. There, he could have sworn he saw a certain somebody.

“So we confiscated these mice from the suspect-”

“Is Anne here?” Aramis interrupted as he tried to follow the blonde woman with his eyes as much as he could. Though within seconds, she disappeared out of sight. 

Athos hesitated and then nodded. “Yes, she’s here. She came to see how you were but we weren’t sure if you were up for more visitors or not.” 

“We can go and get her, if you would like to see her?” Porthos added. He glanced out the window and sure enough, he could see Anne’s retreating form heading towards the lift. 

“Yes.” Aramis replied determinedly “Please. I would like to see her.” 

“Right. I’ll get her and then we’ll go and get some food and check on d’Artagnan, give you both some privacy.” Athos told him before he and Porthos quickly left the room to try and catch up with Anne before she left.

Surprisingly, Anne was quicker than they thought in her high heels so they had to both run the last few paces in order to stop the lift doors from closing. Anne let out a gasp as Porthos’ arm stuck through the doors, causing them to slide back open. 

“I was just about to head home, I thought I could maybe come back tomorrow when maybe Aramis would be ready to see me.” Anne explained. 

“He’s ready now.” Athos replied.

“Really? He wants to see me?” Anne said, surprise evident on her face. 

“Yep. He’s in the third room along, we’ll leave you both to it.” Porthos gestured for Anne to leave the lift and as soon as she did, the two of them entered it and pressed the button for the ground floor, leaving Anne alone.

“Right.” She muttered under her breath and the click clack of her Louboutins could be heard all down the corridor as she walked back towards the room. Sure enough, with a quick glance through the window, she could just make out Aramis lying in the bed.

She placed her hand on the door knob, ready to twist it open, but then stopped herself. A feeling of panic had risen through her as she realised that she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to say to him. 

Slowly, she backed away from the door until the back of her knees hit a row of chairs and she collapsed down onto it. Before Aramis had left, her future with him had been quite clear but now...things had changed. A lot of things had changed. Anne wasn’t even sure that Aramis would still reciprocate her feelings so how could she go in there and tell him how much she loved him if she didn’t even know what their situation was anymore?

After a few minutes, Anne mentally kicked herself. This should be the last thing she should be worrying about, all that she should be focusing on should be helping Aramis get better after his trauma and to do that...it would be best to do it as friends and as friends only. That’s what would be best for Aramis. 

She tucked a few stray hairs back into her low bun and straightened out her skirt and without thinking any more about it, Anne entered the room. 

“Aramis.” She breathed. As much as she was trying to keep emotionally distanced, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to burst into tears at the sight of him. He was once so fit and healthy and now he looked like he could be swallowed up in the bedsheets at any moment, that’s how gaunt and thin he looked.

Despite that, the same twinkling eyes still gazed back at her and after a few moments, there it was. His smile. 

“Anne.” He murmured back. 

From his point of view, she had also changed as somehow, she was even more beautiful from what he had remembered. He and d’Artagnan talked about it often, the fear of forgetting the faces of who they loved, he knew how much d’Artagnan hated forgetting Constance’s features. But somehow, it made it even more special to see Anne’s face again as all the memories of her came rushing back. 

“How have you been?” Aramis finally asked her. 

“I should be the one asking you that.” Anne replied softly as she took a few steps closer to him although she still maintained a slight distance between her and the bed.

“I’ve been better.” Aramis muttered as he tried to sit up more on the bed. 

“Are you okay? Do you need a hand?” Anne asked in concern. Her hands reached out as if she was about to help him but then she stopped herself and clasped them back together at her front. 

“I’m fine.” Aramis waved her off. He eventually got into a favourable position and then looked back at her with such an intense gaze that it gave Anne goosebumps. “You never answered my question, how have you been?”

Anne inwardly sighed as she tried to work out the best way to answer his questioning. She wanted nothing more than to tell him how awful it’s been and how all she wanted to do was put her entire life on hold until he came back but...she couldn’t. The last thing she wanted to do was make him feel guilty.

“I’ve been okay. The Musketeers and my charities have been keeping me busy.” She diplomatically answered.

Aramis nodded and continued to look at her for a few moments as if he was expecting more. When she didn’t provide anything else to her answer, he gave her another smile.

“I missed you.” Aramis admitted quietly. “The memories of you were the only thing which got me through some days.” 

“Aramis…” Anne started quietly but she wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. It was true on her end also, those memories of nights they spent together was something she cherished. “I….I’m still married.” She finally blurted out. As if Aramis needed any more proof, she held up her left hand where sure enough, a gold band still glittered on her finger.

Aramis looked at her in surprise which then faded to sadness which was clear in his eyes. “Right. To Louis, I assume?”   
  


“Yes. Of course.” Anne replied quickly. “He was busy with meetings so I decided to come on his behalf.”

Aramis nodded again and looked down at his, still slightly grimy, nails. He should never have had expectations as to how this reunion was going to go down. It was stupid to even think that it would be like what he expected d’Artagnan and Constance’s to be with endless hugs and kisses and ‘I love yous’. 

“Glad to hear business is still going well for him.” Aramis settled on saying. He didn’t mean for it to sound as bitter as what it ended up sounding like.

Anne looked down at her feet as she felt the guilt take over her entire body. She hated acting like ‘professional Anne’ in front of Aramis, especially when he used to be the only one who she showed her true personality to. 

“You know Louis. Still a whirlwind of meetings and coordinated outfits.” Anne sighed, she still refused to make eye contact. 

“Oh still insisting on that, is he? I would like to see him match that lovely pink you’re wearing.” Aramis retorted. He was still slightly scowling however as soon as Anne surprised him with a light laugh, it transformed into a smirk. 

“I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humour.” Anne said, her eyes crinkling as she gave him a sweet smile. They locked eyes for a few beats before she broke away again. “I should go. I’ve got things to do at home.”

“Right.” Aramis sighed.

“Hopefully I’ll see you soon.” Anne readjusted her bag on her shoulder and gave Aramis one last look before she turned back towards the door. Just as she was about to walk out the room, she added; “I’m glad you’re back, Aramis.”

Anne didn’t give time for him to respond as she strode back out the room as quickly as she had entered. Now alone again, Aramis let out a loud groan and let his head fall back against the pillow. However this time, the groan wasn’t due to the pain, it was at the utter frustration that he was back at square one with Anne Bourbon. 

“She wasn’t here long.” 

Aramis glanced over at the door to see Athos leaning against the doorframe, a takeaway coffee cup in his hand. 

“No. She wasn’t.” Aramis sighed. He didn’t have the energy to start explaining his dilemma to Athos because that would mean going into the  _ whole  _ story about what the extent of their relationship was before they left for the mission and even though he suspected that Athos already knew, he wasn’t ready to delve into that  _ quite  _ yet.

Athos took a sip of his coffee then pulled his phone out. “Treville has just rang. He wants to come and see you and d’Artagnan if you’re up for it.”

“What did d’Artagnan say?” Aramis asked, still not lifting his head off the pillow.

“He said he’s up for it if you are. So?” 

Aramis sighed. “You know Treville, there’s no way that we can put him off for any longer so send him in.” 

“Are you sure? Don’t let anyone pressure you into saying more than you want to, nobody can force you. Not Treville, not Louis...nobody.” Athos frowned. “Don’t push yourself.”

“I’m not ready to say everything yet, I can guess that d’Artagnan will feel the same way.” Aramis agreed. “But...we should see what Treville wants.”   
  


Athos nodded. “Okay, I’ll make the call then I’ll get some staff to bring you back into your original room with d’Artagnan.”

Aramis observed Athos step back out with his phone to his ear and took a few deep breaths whilst staring up at the fluorescent light above his head. He could do this. 

____________________________________

Anne had managed to make it to just outside the hospital when she finally collapsed onto a bench in tears. This was probably the first time she had cried in public since she was about ten, in her family it was very frowned upon, but once the dam had been broken, there was no stopping her.

“Anne?” 

Anne quickly swiped the back of her hand over her eyes, trying to wipe away any evidence of her tears however she knew for a fact that her eyes would be red and blotchy and her mascara would be smeared under her eyes. She really wished she had put waterproof mascara on this morning but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

In her still slightly blurry vision, she managed to see the outline of a woman with red hair. Constance.

“Hey. Y-yeah I’m fine.” She murmured. She picked up her handbag and began to root through it for a tissue.

“Here.” Constance held out a packet which she had pulled from her coat pocket. “Take them.”

Anne produced a watery smile and took the tissues from Constance before dabbing at her eyes. 

“Sorry. I’m not sure what came over me.” Anne shakily said as she crumpled the tissue in her hand and crossed and uncrossed her legs over again. Nervous habit again, Constance noted.

“Totally understandable.” Constance comforted. “Did...did you manage to see Aramis?”

Anne sniffed and used her tissue to dab at the fresh tears which had come out, just at hearing Aramis’ name. “Y-yes. It was a bit of a disaster to be honest.”

In her peripheral vision, she could see Constance look at her in surprise. “You know...if Aramis didn’t react the way you wanted him to just give him time. He might not be ready-”

“He reacted perfectly. Just as I remembered him.” Anne corrected. “That’s the problem. He was such a gentleman and I...well I was a bitch to him, Connie.”

“You are not capable of being that, Anne, I know that for a fact.” Constance insisted. “What happened?”

“I can’t do it. Whilst he was gone, I realised that I can survive with Louis, I should just let Aramis go and be happy with someone who he doesn’t have to sneak around with. He deserves that much. And he...he needs to focus on his recovery. He doesn’t need the stress of keeping us a secret added on top of that.” Anne explained with the occasional sniffle. “Maybe in the future we can think about it again but not- not now.”

“You deserve to be happy too, don’t forget that.” Constance said softly. She reached up and gently put a loose strand of Anne’s hair back behind her ear. 

Anne gave a shaky nod and then looked at Constance with her red-rimmed eyes. “You know...it was more than just sleeping together, I-I’ve never told anyone this, not even Aramis knew, but I was ready to leave Louis.”

“You were?” Constance replied in shock. She knew how much of a risk that would have been for Anne, to leave the man who held so much power over her career and livelihood.

“Me and Aramis talked about it for months beforehand, he always told me that he would support me through it and we could have a happy life together but I never dared believe him.” Anne began before brushing off imaginary pieces of lint from her designer skirt to try and avoid Constance’s questioning gaze. “I wanted that life so much but I just...couldn’t. My whole family would have disowned me.”

“So what changed?” 

Anne bit her lip and then reached into her handbag and pulled out her purse. From the side pocket, she pulled out a small folded piece of paper which she handed to Constance.

The latter frowned and slowly opened it up to reveal a grainy, black and white picture. It was slightly worn down the middle where it had been folded and unfolded so many times. But it wasn’t just any picture.

It was a sonogram.

“Anne…” Constance breathed, she was lost for words. Her eyes flickered over the top of the sonogram where sure enough, Anne’s full name was typed along the top and then the date it was taken. And that was when Constance gasped again. “This was before…”

“Three days before.” Anne confirmed. 

“And it was Aramis’?”

“Of course.” Anne scoffed “Louis never wanted to hear it but we both knew that he had problems down there. We had tried for years, he was so determined to get an ‘heir’ for the business, he’s so old fashioned that he would probably have never settled for anything other than a boy to take the business over.”

Anne carefully took the sonogram back from Constance and ran her fingers down it a few times before continuing. “He began to convince me that it was me. That I was the problem and I ended up believing him. But then me and Aramis began sleeping together and this happened.”

“Did Louis find out?” Constance said. 

“No. I got the scan three days before Aramis and d’Artagnan were due to come home. I’m not quite sure what came over me but it was the final push I needed to get out of my marriage with Louis, I knew I couldn’t bring my child up with anyone other than Aramis. We could finally be a happy family like he always said.” Anne gave Constance a watery smile. “I began to secretly move things over to Aramis’ apartment, ready to surprise him when he came home. But of course…”

“They never came home.” Constance finished with a sigh.

There was a moment of silence as both ladies tried to come to terms with their emotions as the memories which they had tried to push down for so long seemed to rise back up so quickly. Constance wiped away a few more tears before she took Anne’s hand in her own once more. 

“W-what happened? Did you-”

“It happened a couple of weeks after. The doctor told me it was likely to be the stress.” Anne whispered. She closed her eyes and let thick teardrops fall which landed on her lap. For the past few years, she had refused to let her think about it, she hardly even got a chance to grieve since not only did she not want to raise suspicions with Louis but she was also too preoccupied grieving Aramis too. 

“Oh love, I’m so sorry.” Constance then wrapped her arms around Anne and gave her the tightest hug she could muster. Within seconds, she felt Anne’s small arms wrap around her and reciprocate the embrace just as tight. 

“Please don’t tell anyone, I c-cant-” Anne hiccuped.

“Sssh. I won’t say a word to anyone.” Constance interrupted, giving her one last squeeze before letting her go. “But you should re-think this whole ‘keep a distance from Aramis to make him happier and get him back on his feet quicker’ nonsense because I think it’s actually the opposite. He needs you more than ever.”

_______________________________

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

Four heads all turned in the direction of the door where in the frosted glass, they could see the silhouette of a man. It didn’t take a Musketeer to work out who it was. 

Treville. 

Athos gave a quick look to Aramis and d’Artagnan to double check that they seemed up to talking to their boss. They all loved Treville, they really did, he was like a father-figure to all of them so it wasn’t the idea of seeing Treville again which was making d’Artagnan and Aramis feel so nervous, it was the questions which he knew their boss would have to ask. 

With a small nod from the pair of them, Athos called out. “Come in, Treville. They’re ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it to the end, congrats! I wrote the whole next scene of the conversation with Treville including a few flashbacks but after a quick glance to my word count I realised I got completely carried away and it was waaaaay too long for one chapter.   
> However since half of the next chapter is now already written, hopefully it won't be too long before you can read it and finally find out some information! Sorry again for dragging it out a bit! ;)
> 
> Please comment/leave a kudos, they brighten my day so much. Thanks again for reading x


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